Events sponsored by Libraries Assembly are organized by the Professional Affairs Committee (PAC). PAC plans professional development, enrichment and networking programs for library staff across campus library systems. PAC also hosts refreshments for the Libraries Assembly’s annual business meeting. LA events are open to all library staff.
2023-2024 events:
Libraries Assembly Annual Business Meeting: June 7, 2023
Libraries Assembly Town Hall event, June 29, 2023
The Libraries Assembly is looking forward to hosting a virtual Town Hall meeting with Joe Salem (Duke University Libraries) and professional school library directors Katie Benjamin (Divinity School Library), Carlton Brown (Ford Library), Megan von Isenburg (Medical Center Library and Archives), and Alex Zhang (Goodson Law Library) on Thursday, June 29 at 1:00pm. Zoom details will be sent out closer to the event. The Town Hall will include a brief introduction of each of the panelists, dialog among them, a few pre-submitted questions from libraries staff, and many opportunities for the audience to pose questions. The event will be recorded.
Archiving Movement History: No Time Like the Present, September 7, 2023
In 2021, the Rubenstein Library received funding from the Mellon Foundation to launch “Our Story, Our Terms: Documenting Movement Building from the Inside Out” (OSOT). The 3-year OSOT project documents the intergenerational story of social justice movement building from the 1960s to present day. One novel aspect of the project is the creation of a Black cohort of archivists running the project archiving the organizational records of activist groups founded in the 2010s. Join the OSOT Archivist Cohort in an open discussion about the peaks and pitfalls of challenging the standard archival journey. The discussion will cover capabilities of community archives, HBCU archival resources, funding inequities, strengthening preservation skills, and more. Cohort archivists Kahfre Kujichagulia Abif, Malu Brooks, Ida Jones, Michael Morris, Sean Payne, join OSOT Team members Leah M. Kerr, and John Gartrell to share their experiences with library staff and to explore solutions in open discussion. This event is co-sponsored by the Libraries Assembly Professional Affairs Committee.
De-Stress Fest, December 8, 2023
As the semester wraps up, we imagine many of you will be ready to blow off some steam. We invite you to join your colleagues for some cookie decorating fun! Libraries Assembly will supply the coffee, cookies, and some sweet decorating supplies. Not into icing or decorating cookies? No worries! We invite you to come hang out, enjoy plain cookies, and relax! We will also be collecting canned and dry goods for the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.
Neurodiversity in the University Library, February 14, 2024
Duke University Libraries Human Resources and the Libraries Assembly Professional Affairs Committee are excited to invite you to “Neurodiversity in the University Library” — a hybrid presentation led by Duke Neurodiversity Connections. This presentation will serve as an introduction on how to create a more neurodiversity-affirming academic library, with a particular focus on autism inclusion. It will begin with an overview of neurodiversity and autism, followed by specific suggestions for supporting neurodivergent staff (including a more accessible interview process) and users. Presenters will speak from a mixture of academic research/study and lived experience. Presenters include: Sam Brandsen, Tara Chandrasekhar, and Zachary Tumlin. A recording of the Zoom will be disseminated after the presentation.
